Howard Street Improvements
City: Royse City, Texas
Client: City of Royse City
Service TypeInfrastructure R&R
TimeframeCompleted July 2020
Schematic Design, Neighborhood Street Design, Drainage Design, Utility Design, Trail Design, PS&E, Bidding, Construction Management
Project ActivitiesHoward Street is a collector roadway that connects one of Royse City’s older neighborhoods to the downtown. Reconstruction of a quarter mile stretch of the roadway was prioritized in the City’s Capitol Improvement Plan due to deteriorating pavement, flooding problems, and utility lines that were old and undersized. The project was initiated shortly after adoption of a new comprehensive plan that Verdunity prepared for the City, which called for reduction of street widths in residential neighborhoods and improved pedestrian and bicycle connections to downtown. During public input events held during the comprehensive plan effort and walkshops held with residents along the corridor during the conceptual design phase, Howard Street residents complained about the lack of adequate pedestrian facilities to support walking or biking to nearby downtown, and cut-through traffic and speeding were common due to the road’s proximity to a high-traffic arterial and the road’s excessively wide lanes. Rather than rebuilding the existing section (which was the City’s original plan), Verdunity’s design replaced the existing 40-foot wide street section and three-foot sidewalks with a new 24-foot wide travel-way, on-street parking bump-outs on both sides, an eight-foot wide shared use path on the west side, and a four-foot sidewalk on the east side of the road. The new roadway design forces drivers to drive slower through the neighborhood and discourages cut-through traffic, and the new shared use path provides a much safer experience for cyclists and pedestrians looking to get to the businesses and restaurants along Main Street, or to the City’s main park, just a couple of blocks north of downtown. Underground storm drainage, water, and sanitary sewer facilities were also upgraded to meet current design standards.
Project Highlights
Neckdowns and Bump-Outs
The 40-foot curb-to-curb pavement was replaced with a 24-foot travel-way (two 12-foot lanes) and a series of eight-foot wide bump-outs staggered on both wides of the road for on-street parking. The narrower travel lanes slow drivers down and reduce the distance pedestrians have to cross at intersections, while the bump-outs allowed for on-street parking and street trees to provide shade for the sidewalk and shared use path.
Shared Use Path
Instead of putting five-foot sidewalks on each side of the roadway, an eight-foot shared use path was designed on one side to better accommodate bike and pedestrian traffic commuting to and from the downtown, while a four-foot sidewalk on the other side is also available for walkers along the street. The shared use path is continued on the north side of downtown along Wood Street, providing a bike/walk connection to City Lake Park, a common location for city festivals and events.
Resident Walkshop
Rather than asking residents to come to city hall for a public meeting, our team conducted a weekend walkshop to talk with residents on their turf. The walkshop started on the north end of the project, and as the group walked the southern end of the corridor, we asked residents to share their concerns, as well as what they hoped to see with the improvements. Several times during the walk, cars were observed speeding, which residents were quick to point out as their number one concern. On the return walk back the other direction, our design team shared potential solutions to address their concerns and helped residents visualize what those might look like by measuring off distances, using chalk to mark curb lines, and sharing photos of other similar projects.